\Di"a*lect\, n. [F. dialecte, L. dialectus, fr. Gr. ?,
fr. ? to converse, discourse. See {Dialogue}.]
1. Means or mode of expressing thoughts; language; tongue;
   form of speech.
         This book is writ in such a dialect As may the minds
         of listless men affect. Bunyan. The universal
         dialect of the world.                 --South.
2. The form of speech of a limited region or people, as
   distinguished from ether forms nearly related to it; a
   variety or subdivision of a language; speech characterized
   by local peculiarities or specific circumstances; as, the
   Ionic and Attic were dialects of Greece; the Yorkshire
   dialect; the dialect of the learned.
         In the midst of this Babel of dialects there
         suddenly appeared a standard English language.
                                               --Earle.
         [Charles V.] could address his subjects from every
         quarter in their native dialect.      --Prescott.
Syn: Language; idiom; tongue; speech; phraseology. See
     {Language}, and {Idiom}.